ES2969931T3 - Evident copy documents digitally printed in full color - Google Patents

Abstract

A copy-evidence document and a method for printing a copy-evidence document in which an empty pantograph is created that includes a first set of halftone elements and a second set of different halftone elements in modulation of the first set of elements of semitones. Preferably an overlay is formed including a white image with a plurality of halftone hole locations, wherein the halftone elements of the empty pantograph become the plurality of halftone hole locations. The overlay is then preferably merged with a background image, so that parts of the background image are visible at the halftone hole locations of the overlay when it is printed. The merged image is then printed on printing media, where the parts of the background image that are printed are printed in locations where the hole locations are present in the overlay creating an obvious copy feature. (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Evident copy documents digitally printed in full color

Field

The present disclosure is directed to an obvious copy document, and a method of printing such a document.

Background

Digitally printed original documents can incorporate numerous forms of security features to verify the authenticity of the original documents as originals. Such security features may include microprinting, vacuum pantographs, watermarks, guilloche, verification grids, covert security such as HALO imaging (available from ARC IS Solutions Inc.), feature registration on opposite sides of the paper, and latent images. which can be viewed using special filters. These features may be embedded in a document, where the feature may not be visible to the casual observer and often requires some degree of manipulation to be seen. For example, photocopying or scanning may reveal vacuum pantographs and may alter or remove microprints, check grids, watermarks, and guilloche images; Special lenses or filters can reveal covert images or alter Halo images.

Of the techniques noted above, vacuum pantographs are commonly used. In the past, this feature could only be produced using standard press printing procedures such as, but not limited to, web and sheet-fed offset printing (lithography), letterpress, flexography, intaglio, and gravure. Press printing procedures may include film or plate generation, as in the case of CTP (computer to plate), at very high resolution, typically 2400 or 2540 dpi (dots per inch) and beyond; to produce patterns of dots, lines, screen structures or similar that are required in a vacuum pantograph. Recently, advances have been made in the creation of vacuum pantographs (as described in, but not limited to, United States Patent Nos. 7,307,761, 7,869,090; 8,164,799; 8,405,882; 8,593,698; 8,743,425; 8,817,330; 6; 9,738,106; etc.), so that this feature can be printed using laser printers (including laser copier/printer), inkjet printers, direct image presses, digital production presses and combinations thereof, such as Canon Colorstream, i300 , VP 6000, VP10000, Ricoh InfoPrint 5000, 40000, 60000, HP Indigo, Screen Truepress series, Xeikon, and the and more.

Documents US 2009/244641 A1 and US 2009/245613 A1 disclose procedures for printing an obvious copy document,

comprising: creating a vacuum pantograph that includes a first set of halftone elements and a second set of different halftone elements in modulation of said first set of halftone elements. US 2010/0060941 A1 discloses systems and procedures for previewing documents by mixing an image corresponding to a copy protection template with an image of at least one page of the document. US 2011/0310404 A1 discloses a method for generating a vacuum pantograph that includes a foreground portion and a background portion based on different regions of an image.

Vacuum pantographs use halftone elements, such as dots or lines, that vary in size or spacing to form halftones that provide the visual appearance of a continuous tone or color gradients. Halftone elements provide a covert obvious copy feature, which appears when the document is played. Altering the size and placement of elements in the halftones can fool the optical engines of copiers and scanners. In embodiments, at least one set of halftone elements is difficult to reproduce using these methods. Consequently, when played, a portion of the elements (such as larger elements or elements placed closer together are reproduced in a way that makes them stand out from the continuous tone of the vacuum pantograph due to, for example, a failure in the reproduction of the rest of the elements, which abandon This may reveal words such as “COPY”, “VOID”, “INVALID” or images such as logos when copying.

However, as noted above, vacuum pantographs are generally applied to a document as a background and appear to be a continuous tone of a color or its tonal gradients, where text and other graphics appear on top of such a background to form a finished document such as a check, permits, coupon, transcript, etc. Vacuum pantograph is sometimes provided in what would appear to the casual observer to be a flat tint or uniform color and may sometimes include a camouflage pattern on top of a flat tint to create a regular or irregular texture.

Vacuum pantographs for the digital printing platform are not understood to provide images that present numerous colors, saturation levels, and brightness values visible to the casual observer, since it is difficult to provide both the image and the obvious copy characteristics of the vacuum pantograph. Furthermore, even when vacuum pantographs are provided in patterns, textures, and images, they generally require careful configuration to keep the vacuum pantograph concealed and maintain its effectiveness upon playback. Therefore, generally only a few patterns and textures are available and it is difficult to fully customize the images visible to the casual observer after replicating them. Therefore, there is room to improve the provision of vacuum pantographs in documents to improve their customization and variability.

Summary

The invention is set forth in the attached set of claims.

Brief description of the drawings

The aforementioned and other features and advantages of the present disclosure, and the manner of achieving them, will be more easily appreciated and understood by referring to the following detailed description together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an illustration of an overlay and a background image, in this case a photograph. Illustrated is a close-up of the overlay that includes two sets of halftone holes. Also illustrated is the merged image of the overlay and the background image. The result is a faded (reduced density level) version of the original background image that incorporates the obvious copy safety feature.

Figure 2 is an embodiment of a vacuum pantograph including, for example, two sets of halftone elements, both of which provide an obvious copy security feature.

Figure 3 is another embodiment of a vacuum pantograph that includes two sets of halftone elements, both of which provide an obvious copy security feature.

Figure 4 is an embodiment of a calibration sheet.

Figure 5a is an embodiment of a vacuum pantograph including two sets of halftone elements. Figure 5b is an embodiment of the vacuum pantograph of Figure 5a converted to an overlay that includes two sets of halftone holes.

Figure 6a is an embodiment of a solid background that is a continuous image of a single color tone.

Figure 6b is an embodiment of an overlay that includes two sets of halftone holes.

Figure 6c is a close-up of a merged image of the overlay of Figure 6b and the background image of Figure 6a, which includes two sets of colored halftone holes.

Figure 6d is the merged image of Figure 6c, providing a dimmed screen-off version of the original background of Figure 6a that incorporates the obvious copy safety feature.

Figure 7a is an embodiment of a solid background image that is a continuous image of multiple color shades.

Figure 7b is an embodiment of an overlay that includes two sets of halftone holes.

Figure 7c is a close-up of a merged image of the overlay of Figure 7b and the background image of Figure 7a, which includes two sets of colored halftone holes.

Figure 7d is the merged image of Figure 7c, which provides a dimmed screen-off version of the original background of Figure 7a with the copy safety feature evident.

Figure 8a is an embodiment of a continuous background color photographic image.

Figure 8b is a close-up of the boxed region of the background continuous color photographic image.

Figure 8c is an embodiment of an overlay that includes two sets of halftone holes.

Figure 8d is a close-up of a merged image of the overlay of Figure 8c and the background image of Figure 8a, 8b, which includes two sets of colored halftone holes.

Figure 8e is a close-up of the merged image of Figure 8d, providing a close-up of a dimmed screen-off version of the original background of Figure 8b with the copy safety feature evident.

Figure 8f is the merged image of Figure 8a with an overlay that includes two sets of halftone holes, providing a dimmed blackout version of the original background of Figure 8a, with obvious copy safety feature.

Figure 9 is an embodiment of an obvious copy security feature creation procedure.

Figure 10 is an embodiment of a method of incorporating the obvious copy security feature into a document.

Figure 11 is an embodiment of a document that includes an obvious copy feature along with variable data that was printed together in a single pass using digital printing equipment.

Figure 12 is a realization of a photo

Detailed description

The present disclosure is directed to full-color, digitally printed, obvious copy documents, systems for providing such documents, and procedures for creating such documents. Obvious copy documents include vacuum pantographs. As illustrated in Figure 1, in general, obvious copying documents are provided by creating a solid white “overlay” image in a manner similar to placing lace over an object or image. The overlay includes at least a first set of halftone holes and a second set of halftone holes, different from the first set of halftone holes. For example, as illustrated in the close-up image provided in Figure 1, the first set of halftone holes may be smaller in size than the second set of halftone holes. When the overlay is imposed on top of, or merged with, a continuous tone background image containing a) a single solid color (Figure 6a), b) multiple colors (Figure 7a), or c) a full color image it is understands that it includes information relating to all four colors (CMYK) in each pixel, such as photographic or vector art (Figure 8a, Figure 8b), the white overlay will dim and reduce the density level of the original background images (such as the background images illustrated in Figures 6a, 7a, 8a and 8b). Within a background image described in Figures 6a, 7a, 8a and 8b, it may also include an identifier such as an alpha and/or numeric number and/or a hash code in a color separate from or different from the surrounding color such as part of the background image. A hash code can be understood herein as a fixed number of characters such as alpha, numeric, ASCII, Unicode, or combinations thereof generated using an algorithm, and preferably a sum of products algorithm, especially the text of the string from variable data, fixed data, or both variable and fixed data, the data being found, for example, in the content of the document, the properties of the document, or an electronic file that represents the document.

The background image, and its color information, is visible only through the halftone hole locations in the overlay. The merged layers become the printed image (see, for example, the merged layers in Figure 1). When printed, the printing medium (ink, toner, dyes, pigments, etc.) is deposited only in the locations that correspond to the halftone holes in the overlay, since the white portion of the merged image is not printed by the printer. Such documents may be printed using digital printing platforms, such as laser printers, laser printers/copiers, inkjet printers, and digital production presses, at any resolution, such as 300 dpi or higher, and then electronically copied using a photocopier or scanner, the original document appears different from the copied view. Although not illustrated in Figure 1, text or other graphics may be printed over the obvious copy feature, as illustrated in Figure 11 and described below. The obvious copy features and any additional text or graphics can all be printed at the same time in a single pass of the document through the printer. The document can include any printing medium, such as paper, fabric, film, plastic, etc. Although the obvious copy feature is illustrated as covering almost the entire surface area of the printing medium, it may cover the entire surface area or only a portion of the surface area, such as in the range of 1% to 100%, and all values and ranges within them, such as 10% to 50%, 10% to 75%, 10% to 90%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 50%, 75%, 90%, etc.

In the present disclosure, the creation of the obvious copy security feature can begin with the creation of a vacuum pantograph. Upon reproduction (e.g., scanning or photocopying), the vacuum pantograph reveals a covert feature, such as covert text or graphics. The vacuum pantograph is formed from a first set of halftones and a second set of halftones, in which at least one set of halftones is difficult to reproduce using reproduction procedures such as scanning or photocopying. For example, upon reproduction, the original printed elements of a halftone set may merge to form larger elements that increase the density of the reproduced printed elements, or the original printed elements of a halftone set may disappear from the reproduction. , since they are not large enough to be reproduced. Procedures for making vacuum pantographs and examples of halftone elements are described, for example, in United States Patent Nos. 4,227,720, 4,265,469, 4,310,180, 4,341,404, 5,018,767, 5,193,853, 5,707,083, 5,788,285, 000,728, 7,307,761, 7,463,389, 8,164,799 and 9,738,106 for offset printing and digital printing procedures.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a vacuum pantograph pattern 200, in which the halftone elements 102, 104 are amplitude modulated, that is, the first set of halftone elements 110 is smaller than the second set. of halftone elements 112, which are separated by the dotted line for illustration purposes (however, as can be seen, the dotted line is not present in an actual pattern). Furthermore, the first set of halftone elements 102 is frequency modulated, wherein the first set of halftone elements is randomly placed within a given area, wherein the area may be equivalent to, e.g. , a quarter of a square inch, or a half square inch, or a square inch, and the second set of elements 104 is placed according to a repeating pattern within a given area, where the area may be equivalent to, for example, a quarter of a square inch, or a half square inch, or a square inch. The random placement of halftone elements can be performed using one or more algorithms, which can place the halftones based on the printing platform, the printing medium (ink, toner, etc.), and the document medium ( cardstock, parchment, copy paper, etc.).

In the particular embodiment of Figure 2, the vacuum pantograph was formed as described in US 7,307,761, using small, one (1) pixel dots, randomly placed on the first set of halftone elements. (also called the background) with larger dots, seven (7) pixels, placed at uniform line angles (45 degrees to the bottom edge of the paper) and at a frequency of 67 lines per inch between each row of elements. In this example, the halftones formed a print density of 10%. As can be seen, a pixel is understood to be a single printed dot.

Figure 3 illustrates another embodiment of a vacuum pantograph pattern 300, in which the halftone elements 102, 104 are of different geometry, that is, the first set of halftone elements 110 are dots and the second set of Halftone elements 112 are solid lines, which are separated by the dotted line for illustrative purposes (however, as can be seen, the dotted line is not present in an actual pattern). Both sets of halftone elements are placed according to a repeating pattern within a given area, where the area may be equivalent to, for example, a quarter square inch, or a half square inch, or a square inch. . In the illustrated embodiment, the pantograph is formed as described in US 9,738,106 and the smallest, two (2) pixel dots, of the first set of halftone elements (in this case the background) were placed uniformly in lines placed at an angle of 45 degrees from the bottom edge of the paper and at a line frequency of 150 lines per inch and the largest lines were placed in evenly spaced lines, one (1) pixel thick, proportioned at an angle of 5 degrees from the edge of the paper and at a frequency of 50 lines per inch (in this case the foreground).

Various combinations of placement, geometry and size of halftone elements can be used. As already noted, placement can be uniform, random, or both. Elements can be formed from points, rhombuses, ellipses, squares, crosses, or lines, such as solid lines, dashed lines, wavy lines, or dashes. Preferably, a set of the elements is sized so that they cannot be reproduced as they are too small to be reproduced by a playback equipment, or are sized so that they merge when played by a playback equipment. More preferably, a set of halftone elements is sized such that they are reproduced by the playback equipment exactly as the elements appear on the original. In the examples above, the second set of halftone elements 104 is sized in such a way that it can be played by the playback equipment (although its geometry may be somewhat altered). Next, at least one set of halftone elements is adjusted in size and quantity to allow the elements to blend.

In the examples above, by adjusting the density, that is, the number, of small elements of the background area (the first set of elements 102) to match the elements of the foreground area (the second set of elements 104), Background and foreground areas can be matched to blend into each other. Adjusting the density will affect the perceived tints of the midtone elements. The vacuum pantograph can be formed using any graphics program that can format the vacuum pantograph as a bitmap art file. Examples of graphics programs include those offered by ADOBE, COREL, PAINT.NET, etc.

In order to adjust the two (or more) sets of halftone elements printed on a specific printer, such that the two (or more) sets of halftone elements look similar to the naked eye (i.e. provide a tint for each set of halftone elements that blends the elements together in such a way that they are relatively indistinguishable), a calibration procedure must be carried out prior to creation of the final vacuum pantograph bitmap file . Accordingly, vacuum pantographs are calibrated for the printing platform, such as a particular model of printer (including inkjet, toner or production press printers), and preferably are calibrated for a specific printer. The calibration procedure is a function of adjusting the programmed density of the halftone areas 110, 112 with the printed density and resulting tints of the halftone areas, so that the printed density (and tints) of the areas of halftones match.

Density is understood as the percentage of a given area of a document covered by the printing medium. For example, a density of 10% results in 10% of a given area being covered by the printing medium (i.e. ink, toner, etc.), where the area can be determined, e.g. by inches or square centimeters, etc. As mentioned above, the programmed density, that is, the density selected in the software, may vary by the printed density, that is, the actual density provided by the printer, which causes the variation in the perceived tints. Calibration therefore allows independent selection of the density of each set of halftone elements to provide a relatively more uniform tint between the two areas. To calibrate, vacuum pantographs that include halftone elements presented in varying densities are printed on a sheet of paper using the printing platform, and preferably the specific printer on which the obvious copy document will be produced, as illustrated in Figure 4. For printers that print in a single color, such as a black and white printer, the calibration sheet can be printed with black ink or toner only. For color printers that print in multiple colors (CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black ink or toner), multiple calibration sheets can be printed with one color, more than one color, or all colors, or a single calibration sheet can be printed with one color, more than one color, or all colors.

In the embodiment of the calibration sheet 400 of Figure 4, the covert features 120 of the calibration vacuum pantographs 100 are a series of letters provided by a second set of halftone elements, which form the foreground area 112 , surrounded by a first set of halftone elements, which form the background 110; however, other letters, numbers, or shapes of variable geometries can be used as covert features. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the density of the halftone elements that provide the foreground 112 (i.e., the covert features 120) varies from 8% to 20% from left to right in each row and the density of The background halftone elements varies from 4% to 30% from left to right in each row. The calibration sheet 400 vacuum pantographs are delivered to the printer in the format of a bitmap file, in which the printer does not use the built-in (i.e., in-printer) raster image processor (RIP). or the RIP of the operating system.

In general, raster image processing is a procedure and means of converting the digital information of a source image, such as a PostScript file, into halftone displays before it is printed by the printer. A RIP can be implemented as a software component of an operating system or as a firmware program executed on a microprocessor inside a printer. In this procedure, you send a bitmap file to the printer and do not use the operating system or printer RIP to determine the size and position of each halftone element to reflect the density you want to achieve. in the printed document. The bitmap file is printed to a document, where the position and size of each of the halftone elements is already determined by the bitmap file.

If a regular continuous tone graphic source file, for example a 10% grayscale file, is sent to the printer, the RIP is necessary to interpret the densities within the continuous tone of the source file and print the source file based on proprietary algorithms set by the printer manufacturer to resemble what a 10% grayscale should be in the printed document. Each printer's RIP is different in how it is programmed by the printer manufacturer and therefore sending a 10% continuous tone source file to various inkjet and toner printers will create variations in printed images and will look different depending on the brand and model of printers.

However, if a 10% bitmap source file is sent to multiple inkjet and toner printers, it will provide similar-looking printed documents with relatively little variation between different printers. The vacuum pantograph is delivered to the printer as an electronic bitmap file. The printed calibration sheets 400 are then examined by visual observation of the original document by a user to determine what combination of foreground halftone elements (first set) and background halftone elements (second set) are mixed together. yes (and preferably the best blend determined by the observer) so that the covert features 120 (i.e., letters) are difficult to distinguish from the background or blend better into the background.

In a printed document, halftone elements 102, 104 are formed by depositing the printing medium (toner, ink, dye, pigments, etc.) as elements (dots or other geometric shapes) on the printed document. Halftones provide the covert overt copy feature, which appears when the document is played. These covert features often include the terms “Copy”, “Void”, “Invalid”, etc. However, other covert features are also possible, such as embedded images such as logos. Additional sets of midtones may also be present.

A combination of foreground halftone elements (first set) and background halftone elements (second set) is identified that blend together so that covert features (i.e., letters) are difficult to distinguish. From the bottom. To create the overlay, the halftone elements from this combination are then converted to holes, or halftone holes, and the remaining portion of the overlay is set to white. Without being tied to any particular theory, the halftone holes, in essence, become “transparent” in the overlay, like the holes in a lace material. A close-up of a calibrated vacuum pantograph 100 prior to conversion to an overlay is illustrated in Figure 5a. While the halftone elements 102, 104 are illustrated in black, in this image the halftone elements are presented at a density of 10%, leaving 90% of the area white. The vacuum pantograph 100', after conversion, is illustrated in Figure 5b. The halftone elements 102', 104' are illustrated in the figure as light gray; however, they are halftone holes in the white overlay and are located where the black halftone elements were initially formed. If the overlay were printed on its own, the image would be blank, since printers generally do not print the white portions of an image (in this case, the overlay) and the halftone holes are locations where the map of bits is transparent. Like the halftone elements of the vacuum pantograph in Figure 5a, the halftone holes are present at a density of 10%, leaving 90% of the surface covered by the white overlay and therefore white. .

Figures 6a to 6d provide an illustrative example. Figure 6a illustrates a “red” solid continuous tone background image 130 generated by using any photographic/graphic editing/design software, such as but not limited to Adobe Photoshop, to create a file and color it with “red”. ” desired by assigning each pixel color area in the file a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) percentage. In this example, Photoshop was used to create a continuous “red” color using “PMS Pantone Warm Red C.” Photoshop created this color using a CMYK breakdown of 0% cyan, 88% magenta, 80% yellow, 0% black. The information tells the printer RIP, in order to create the desired “red” in the printed document, the printer will print the “red” with the previously defined percentages of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink or toner for each area of pixel within the file to reproduce the “PMS Pantone Warm Red C” in the printed document.

Figure 6b illustrates an enlarged area of an overlay, i.e., converted vacuum pantograph 100' which includes two sets of halftone holes 102', 104' and is the same as that illustrated in Figure 5b. Figure 6c illustrates a close-up of image 132 merged from the background image of Figure 6a and the overlay of Figure 6b. As can be seen, the merged image includes colored halftone holes 102", 104", where the "red" color of the background image "below" the halftone holes is exposed through the hole locations halftone as shown in Figure 6c. Figure 6d is the merged file 134 representing an attenuated (reduced density) version of Figure 6a. As illustrated, after printing, the printer leaves the “white” regions unprinted and places the background image colors into the “hole” regions.

Unlike overlay, the colors of the hole regions will be interpolated by the printer RIP to print using CMYK ink or toner based on the breakdown defined as 0% Cyan, 88% Magenta, 80% Yellow, 0% Black . In this example, the programmed and calibrated density for both sets of halftone elements was 10%. Figure 6d represents a density of 10% of the original “red” color and in this case to resemble 10% of “Pantone Warm Red C”. Figure 6d also represents a toned down version of Figure 6a incorporated with the copy security feature evident.

Figures 7a to 7d provide another illustrative example. Figure 7a illustrates a solid, continuous “rainbow color” background image 130 generated by using any photographic/graphic editing/design software such as, for example, Adobe Photoshop to create a colored file with the coloring tool. gradient. The desired mix of “rainbow colors” is defined in each pixel color area as CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) percentages to create the continuous tone “rainbow colors” background image. In this example, one of the pixel areas may be a “yellow” with the CMYK breakdown as 1% cyan, 3% magenta, 100% yellow, 0% black, and another pixel area may be a “purple” with the CMYK breakdown as 69% cyan, 93% magenta, 32% yellow, 15% black and so on. The information tells the printer RIP, in order to create the desired colors in the “rainbow colors” in the printed document, that the printer will print the “rainbow colors” with the previously defined percentages of ink or toner cyan, magenta, yellow and black for each pixel area within the file to achieve the desired “rainbow colors” in the printed document.

The overlay pattern 100' is provided in Figure 7b, again including the two sets of halftone elements 102', 104' illustrated in Figure 5b. A close-up of the merged image 132 of the overlay image and rainbow colors of Figure 7a are illustrated in Figure 7c. As can be seen, the merged image includes colored halftone holes 102", 104", where the "rainbow colors" are those of the background image of Figure 7a being exposed through the middle hole locations. pitch as shown in Figure 7c. Figure 7d illustrates the image of the merged file 134 representing a grayed out version of Figure 7a. As illustrated, after printing, the printer leaves the “white” regions unprinted and places the background image colors into the “hole” regions. The background image colors will be interpolated by the printer RIP for printing using CMYK ink or toner or based on CMYK breakdowns. Similar to the example in Figures 6a to 6d, the image density is programmed and calibrated to be 10% of the density of the original “rainbow” gradient colors in Figure 7a. Figure 7d also represents a toned down version of Figure 7a incorporated with the copy security feature evident.

Figures 8a to 8f illustrate yet another example. Figure 8a illustrates a continuous background image 130 depicting a photograph of a bunny. This background image 130 was provided by a digital photograph in any photographic format such as, but not limited to, jpeg, tiff, png, gif, etc. In this example, each pixel area is defined individually and can be a “green” with the CMYK breakdown as 66% cyan, 39% magenta, 100% yellow, 20% black; a “blue” with the CMYK breakdown as 100% cyan, 19% magenta, 26% yellow, 1% black; and so on. The information tells the printer RIP, in order to create the desired colors in the “bunny photo” in the printed document, that the printer should print the “bunny photo” with the previously defined percentages of cyan ink or toner , magenta, yellow and black for each pixel area within the file to achieve the desired “bunny photo” in the printed document.

Figure 8b illustrates an enlarged close-up of Figure 8a. Figure 8c illustrates a close-up of the overlay pattern 100' that includes the two sets of halftone holes 102', 104'. Figure 8d illustrates a close-up of the merged image 132 including the overlay of Figure 8c and background file of Figure 8b. As can be seen, the merged image includes colored halftone holes 102", 104", where the colors are those of the background image at the halftone hole locations. Figure 8f is the merged file 134 representing a grayed out version of Figure 8a. Figure 8e illustrates an enlarged close-up section of Figure 8f. As illustrated, after printing, the printer leaves the “white” regions unprinted and places the background image colors into the “hole” regions, which “hole” regions will be interpolated by the printer RIP to print using CMYK ink or toner based on CMYK breakdowns.

Similar to the example in Figures 6a to 6d, the image density is programmed and calibrated to have a density of 10% of the original “bunny photograph” in Figure 8a and Figure 8b. Figure 8f and Figure 8e also respectively represent a toned down version of Figure 8a and Figure 8b incorporated with the obvious copy security feature.

As can be seen from the above, the background image can be supplied by a number of sources, including, for example, solid color files, multi-color files, and full-color continuous tone images, such as art. photographic and other graphics. File formats include, but are not limited to, JPEG, JFIF, Exif, Tiff, GIF, BMP, PNG, PPM, WebP, HDR, BAT, BPG, etc. Additionally, while the examples used a halftone element, a halftone hole density, and a colored halftone hole density of 10% (i.e., 10% of a given printed area being covered with the printing medium), a density of 4% to 40%, including all values and ranges thereof, such as 4% to 20%, 8% to 20%, and 10% to 12% may be used. , etc. It can be seen that if a density of 10% of the halftone element sets is selected in the original vacuum pantograph, the density of the merged image before printing will also be 10%.

One embodiment of a method for forming an obvious copy document is illustrated in Figure 9. The method 900 includes creating a vacuum pantograph 902 as, preferably, a one (1) bit electronic bitmap file using programs graphics from, for example, ADOBE, COREL, MICROSOFT, PAINT.NET, etc. The file resolution is preferably equal to or a factor of the printer resolution, commonly expressed in dots per inch, for example, 600 dpi, 300 dpi, etc. The vacuum pantograph is then calibrated 904, as described above, for a printer model or a specific printer, in which the background and foreground halftone elements (first and second set of halftone elements) are calibrated. They adjust until the observer finds that the background and foreground tints match.

The overlay, “top layer”, is then created by converting the halftone elements into halftone holes 906 and the file is stored as a bitmap file and, preferably, a one (1) bitmap file. bit. The bottom layer, i.e. the background image may then be selected 908 from, for example, a) a single continuous image of one color, b) a continuous image of multiple colors c) a color photograph/graphic image at any resolution or a combination thereof. Within the a), b), c) indicated above, it may also include an identifier such as an alpha and/or numeric number and/or a hash code, as described above, in a color separate or different from the color that surrounds it as part of the background image. This background image can be any resolution and does not need to be a factor of the printer resolution. The overlay file and background image may be merged 910 together before printing to be saved and stored in a file storage system. This merged file, including the obvious copy feature, can be saved in a number of file formats, including, but not limited to, .pdf, .tiff, .jpeg, .ovl, .aft, .png, .gif, etc. . and stored in a physical memory storage location, such as a CPU, random access memory, etc.

However, the overlay file and the background image may also be merged 910 together during the printing procedure by a document printing management program, in which the overlay covers the background image in the solid white areas, except where Halftone holes are present. The resulting printed document will include the obvious copy feature. Therefore, this procedure provides variable security, since a single overlay file can be combined with a variety of background images. In other embodiments, multiple overlay images with multiple background images may be used in a single print signal. In other words, for example, from ten background files and ten overlay files one can generate one hundred combinations of the obvious copy feature and present any number of them on each page of a printed document. The resulting printed document will include variable obvious copy features with each page or sections of a page in the document having a variable obvious copy feature.

Returning to Figure 10, the procedure 1000 of merging the obvious copy feature with the variable data and printing is illustrated. Firstly, the variable data are prepared 912. Variable data includes information that is easily observed by the casual observer, as well as other data that can be observed by trained observers. Such data may include information printed on a check including account information and check amount, prescription information including the prescribing doctor/clinic and the script itself, handwriting information, etc. . Variable data may also include additional graphics, such as a company's trademarks, a digitally saved signature, plan illustrations, graphic or photographic images, etc. Variable data can be generated with any document or graphics software, such as word processing software, accounting software, prescription software, etc.

The variable data and the obvious copy feature can be merged 914, for example, by importing the obvious copy feature file as an additional graphic element behind the variable data, such as a background image or watermark. The merged files are then sent, at 916, to the printing platform or stored in the computer's storage memory or a storage device for later printing. When sent to the print platform 918, the printer's raster image processor will be able to rasterize the merged file according to the printer's “built-in” RIP and will place the print media only in areas where the printer determines that the merged image is not “white” in the overlay, i.e. creating the colored halftone holes. Upon printing 920, the result is a printed document with variable data (including text, graphics or both text and graphics) together with a color, and preferably a full color image, vacuum pantograph background/watermark, providing a obvious copy document and anti-tampering on the printing medium.

An example of a merged document that includes an obvious copy feature printed digitally in full color is illustrated in Figure 11. Document 1100 is a check and includes variable text 1102a, 1102b, 1102c, etc. printed on obvious copy feature 1104, i.e., a photograph of a dog. Upon reproduction, such as a photocopy, overt copy feature 1104 reveals one or more covert features. In this case the 1204 features are disguised, the word “VOID” is illustrated in Figure 12, which is an example of a photocopy of the original illustrated in Figure 11. Additionally, this example includes additional security features in the document , such as displaying a verification grid as the term “payable” in the check amount box 1106, a microprinted signature line 1108, and guilloche patterns around the edge 1110 of the check, which further increase security of the document.

The above description of various methods and embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration using a safety feature such as a vacuum pantograph. These same procedures and implementation may be the use of another non-limiting security feature such as the covert hidden feature known as HALO offered by Arcis Solutions Inc. They are not intended to be exhaustive or limit the precise steps and/or forms disclosed, and, obviously , many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.

In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method of printing a clear copy document that includes an overlay and a background image. The procedure includes creating a vacuum pantograph with at least two sets of halftone elements. An overlay is then formed in which the locations of the halftone elements of the vacuum pantograph become holes in a solid white image. The overlay is then merged with a background image, where the background image is visible at the hole locations of the overlay when it is printed. The merged overlay image and background image are then printed, where the portions of the background image that are printed are printed at the locations where holes are present in the overlay image. In the solid white regions of the overlay, the printer does not print the background image. Preferably, the overlay is provided to the printer or print management software as a bitmap and is not rasterized by the integrated printing software. In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a document formed by the procedures described above and document authentication procedures that include obvious copy features formed in accordance with the procedures described above.

Claims (15)

1. A method of printing a clear copy document (1100), comprising: create a vacuum pantograph (100, 200, 300) that includes a first set (110) of halftone elements (102) and a second set (112) of different halftone elements (104) in modulation from said first set of halftone elements (102); converting the first set (110) of halftone elements (102) and the second set (112) of halftone elements (104) into a plurality of halftone holes (102', 104') in an overlay (100 ') solid white; merging said overlay (100') with a background image (130), such that portions of said background image (130) are visible at said locations of the halftone holes (102', 104') of said overlay when printed, and the overlay (100') reduces the density of the background image (130); printing said fused image (132) on a printing medium, wherein said portions of the background image (130) that are printed are printed at the locations where said halftone holes (102', 104') are present in said overlay (100'), creating an obvious copy feature (1104). 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said background image (130) is not printed in said white regions of said overlay (100'). 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the vacuum pantograph (100, 200, 300) forming said overlay (100') is provided to a printer as a bitmap and is not rasterized by a software program integrated printer interface of said printer to determine the locations of the halftone hole (102', 104'). 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said overlay (100') is provided to a print management software program as a bitmap and is not rasterized by said print management software program. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising calibrating said vacuum pantograph (100), wherein said vacuum pantograph (100) is calibrated by: printing a calibration sheet (400) that includes a plurality of said vacuum pantographs (100) wherein said vacuum pantographs (100) include combinations of different densities of said sets of halftone elements (102, 104); selecting one of said vacuum pantographs (100) to form said overlay, wherein said sets of halftone elements (102, 104) are mixed on said calibration sheet (400). 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said obvious copy document (1100) includes text or graphics (1102, 1106, 1108, 1100) that are selected from static, variables and combinations thereof, which appear on said characteristic (1104) of obvious copying. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said background image (130) includes one or more of the following: a single color, a single tone, multiple colors, multiple tones, and a full-color photographic image. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said sets of halftone elements (102, 104) has a density in the range of 4% to 40% and said fused image (132) has a density from 4% to 40%. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said overlay (100') is provided with a resolution equal to or with a factor of a resolution of said printer, and the background image (130) is provided at any resolution. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said overlay (100') covers a portion of said document (1100). 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said background image (130) is provided in one of the following file formats: JPEG, JFIF, Exif, Tiff, GIF, BMP, PNG, PPM, WebP, HDR, BAT and BPA and said overlay is a bitmap file. 12. A clear copy document (1100) that includes a clear copy feature (1104) comprising: an image (132) printed on a document (1100), wherein said image (132) includes an image (130) background and an overlay (100') in which said overlay includes a first set of half-tone holes (102') and a second set of half-tone holes (104') different in modulation of said first set of holes ( 102') halftone and portions of said background image (130) are printed where said first and second sets of halftone holes (102', 104') are present in said overlay (100'), in which said The first and second set of halftone holes (102', 104') form a vacuum pantograph (100, 200, 300) and the overlap (100') reduces the density of the background image (130). 13. The obvious copy document (1100) of claim 12, wherein said background image (130) is one or more of the following: a single color, a single tone, multiple colors, multiple tones, and an image full color photography. 14. The obvious copy document (1100) of claim 12 further comprises at least one of the visible text and graphics printed on said cover security feature. 15. The obvious copy document (1100) of claim 12, wherein said image (132) has a density of 4% to 40%.